Is your kitchen safe?

I've just found out I'm a food safety slob.

This comes as a shock, because my parents (who live in England) are convinced I have become a food safety zealot, what with my admonishments not to leave fried fish out at room temperature overnight and a meddlesome habit of going through their refrigerator and tossing foods that are weeks past their sell-by dates.

"Darling, that's only the sell-by date," my dad protests.

"She lives in California -- you know how fanatical they are about health over there -- and, of course, in the summer it's so much hotter in California," says my mother, indulgently making excuses for her child.

Then there was the infamous eggplant incident of 2005, involving the inexplicable (and wasteful) disappearance of half an eggplant that had slime all over the cut end. My mother asked if I knew what had happened to it. I lied.

Yet by the yardsticks of the International Food Information Council Foundation, a group funded by food, beverage and agricultural industries, I am a slattern.  Do I use a meat thermometer when using the microwave? (No. Wouldn't the metal create those alarming electrical flashes and zapping noises?) Have I ever checked my microwave's wattage? (No. People do this?)

The council's food safety survey involved interviews with 1,000 U.S. residents over a 2.5-week period during February and March. "More than three-quarters of Americans (82%) say they are confident in their ability to safely prepare food, yet many report not following simple procedures to reduce the spread of bacteria in their kitchen or ensure safe cooking temperatures," says a news release about the findings.

The stats:

92% say they wash their hands with soap and water when preparing food. (Good!)

79% store leftovers within two hours of serving. (Pretty good!)

48% report using separate cutting boards for raw meat or poultry and produce. (Do they mean dedicated separate cutting boards?)

29% use a meat thermometer.

15% check the wattage on their microwaves. (Sorry, but this sounds remarkably high.)

7% say they use a meat thermometer when using their microwaves.

What about you? Have you checked the wattage of your microwave lately? Do you eat off the floor -- or hose down the kitchen with bleach at the end of each day?

And please, come to dinner any time. (No -- really? You're busy?)

--Rosie Mestel

P.S. For food safety tips from the government, go here.

Should kids swing aluminum bats?

Considering how many kids play youth baseball or softball, it's surprising that there is a lack of agreement on whether aluminum bats are safe. A New Jersey family announced today that it is filing a lawsuit against the manufacturer of an aluminum bat as well as Little League Baseball and the store that sold the bat after the family's son was injured by a ball hit off an aluminum bat. The boy was 12 when he was struck by a line drive. He survived but suffered brain damage.

Some people say a ball comes off an aluminum bat with more force than off a wooden bat, making aluminum bats unsafe for kids. The issue has gained traction in some city councils and state legislatures. New York City last year banned metal bats from use in high school baseball games. And a bill is before the Illinois state legislature that would make it illegal for any adult to knowingly allow the use of an aluminum bat during a recreational baseball or softball game in which a person under age 13 is a participant.

For its part, the Youth Committee of USA Baseball, of which Little League International is a member, said in a statement last year:

"There is no data to indicate that the few catastrophic injuries to baseball pitchers from metal bats would not have happened if the batter was using a wood bat."

The organization noted that the national Consumer Product Safety Commission also studied the issue in 2002 and concluded there is no evidence that aluminum bats pose a greater safety risk than wooden bats.

Recreational sports give kids opportunities for much-needed exercise as well as a chance to learn sportsmanship, self-discipline, teamwork and many other values. It's tough to stomach when a child is severely injured playing youth sports. But as the blogger lawhawk said Sunday:

"While I have tremendous sympathy for the family, I think the lawsuit will ultimately go nowhere as this will likely come down to a battle of the experts, who can and will show that there's no way to assign blame to the manufacturer or anyone else as the injury could have been sustained as a result of the use of a standard wooden bat."

-- Shari Roan

Photo: Los Angeles Times